Virtual reality (VR) equipment—also called augmented reality (AR) equipment—is becoming increasingly popular, both for entertainment uses, training uses, and commercial uses. A user experiences virtual reality by wearing a VR head-mounted display (HMD) or similar equipment and operating a virtual reality software application that controls the VR equipment. The VR headset projects three-dimensional (3D) images of a virtual world that may appear quite real to the user.
One of the key features of a VR headset is the ability to recognize and identify the hand gestures of the user of the VR headset. However, when the front vision sensor on the VR headset detects a hand in the scene for the purpose of identifying user hand gestures, it is difficult to determine whether the hand belong to the legitimate user of the VR headset or to an intruder in the field of vision of the front vision sensor. The default assumption of conventional VR headsets is that a detected hand belongs to the actual user (i.e., the person wearing and operating the VR device). But it is possible that another person (i.e., an “intruder”) may accidentally or intentionally waves his or her hand in front of the VR device. The intruder's detected hand gesture(s) may trigger undesirable effects on the user interface causing an unpleasant experience to the main user.
For example, the main user may be editing a document on a virtual reality desktop and the intruder hand gesture may close the document. Likewise, the main user may be finishing up an online purchase using a VR device when the intruder hand gesture clicks the BACK button. Or, the main user may be watching a movie in the VR device and the intruder hand gesture may click the STOP or CLOSE button on the movie window. In sum, there are numerous situations where the intentional or accidental hand gesture of an intruder may cause undesirable experience for the main or legitimate user.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved apparatus and method for identifying legitimated hand gesture of the user of a virtual reality device.